1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fields of molecular biology, immunology and medicine. In particular, embodiments of the invention relate to transferring of cytokine receptor genes or modulation of cytokine receptor gene expression to enhance sensitivity to cytokine therapy.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, there has been increasing interest in cell-based therapies to treat disease. For example, therapies using T-cells targeted to tumor antigens, such as chimeric antigen receptor T-cells, are being studied as potential new anti-cancer therapies. However, for such therapies to be effective, the therapeutic cells must be able to proliferate in vivo. Accordingly, many of these therapies rely upon administration of exogenous cytokines, such as IL-2, to the patients being treated. The administration of IL-2 and many other cytokines/protein therapeutics is often limited by dose limiting toxicity. In the case of IL-2, for example, therapeutic effector cells may respond inefficiently to the cytokine. Thus, there remains a need for therapeutic cells with enhanced proliferative capability or enhanced response to cytokines.